CHP targets truckers with newest weapon

|
6/26/2002

More than
200 traffic cops Tuesday swarmed over Highway 101 from Los Angeles
to the Oregon border. The California Highway Patrol brought out
its newest weapon to track down speeding truckers and other dangerous
drivers - 73 super-charged white Camaros.

Although
truck-related accidents nationwide have declined over the past
few years, they have increased 5 percent from 1996 to 2000 in
California, according to a published report. And one of ever 11
fatalities on state roads last year reportedly involved a truck
crash.

Officers
are hopeful their sleek hot rods, which are painted white to better
blend with traffic, will make a difference. The cars are packed
with 310-horsepower V-8 engines and can top out at about 160 mph.
But, troopers say the vehicles biggest asset is they are simply
harder to see. The Camaros are outfitted with 2-inch-high light
bars resembling ski racks from a distance.

Similar efforts
to crackdown on misbehaving drivers have taken place on I-80 between
San Francisco and Sacramento and on I-580. Earlier this month,
CHP announced it was also stepping up enforcement on I-880 through
the East Bay.